Implants of the type defined are known for use as the anchoring members of dental and orthopaedic prostheses. To this end, the implant is inserted into a bore-hole drilled into the bone tissue of a bone tissue structure at a site where a prosthesis is required, ordinarily by screwing of the implant into the bore-hole. The convention in the art is for the circumferentially-oriented roughness to take the form of a screw thread and in this case the bore-hole will ordinarily be (i) provided with internal threads in advance, or (ii) left un-tapped with the implant being provided with a self-tapping capacity, e.g. by the provision of one or more axially-extending cutting recesses or notches in the screw thread.
A superstructure having the prosthetic part of the prosthesis is then secured to the implant. In the case of a dental prosthesis, the superstructure will typically consist of a spacer or transmucosal component which engages to the implant to bridge the gingiva overlying the maxilla or mandible at the implant site and the prosthetic part, e.g. a crown, bridge or denture, is then secured to the spacer. There are various other forms that the superstructure can take as is known in the art. For instance, the prosthetic part may be secured directly to the implant.
The long-term integrity of the prosthesis is highly dependent on the successful osseointegration of the implant with the bone tissue structure, that is to say, the remodelling of the bone tissue in the bone tissue structure into direct apposition with the implant. A study on the factors which affect the osseointegration of implants was undertaken by Professor Per-Ingvar Branemark and co-workers and the results were published in a book entitled “Osseointegrated Implants in the Treatment of the Edentulous Jaw: Experience from a 10-Year Period”, Almqvist & Wiskell International, Stockholm, Sweden, 1977. It was found by Branemark et al that successful osseointegration depends upon inter alia the use of biocompatible materials for the implant, for example titanium and alloys thereof, and the surgical procedure adopted, for example leaving the implant unloaded for several months before adding the superstructure.
Implants of the type defined are not necessarily always used as part of a prosthesis, in some instances they can be a “stand alone” structure. As an example, implants of the type defined are known for use as bone fixation screws. The success of these “stand alone” implants is also highly dependent on their successful osseointegration.
Implants of the type defined have some notable advantages in promoting successful osseointegration with the adjacent bone tissue, a major one being as a result of the fact that the main loads on the implant in the clinical situation are axial loads. These implants are very well suited to support axial loads and this may be particularly important in the initial stages of the osseointegration process in which it is important that the implant is fully stable and as immovable as possible in the bore-hole (primary fixation). One can consider this to be due to the bone tissue growing into the troughs between adjacent peaks of the circumferentially-oriented roughness on the implant.
The Applicant has also identified that it is advantageous for an implant of the type defined to transmit the axial loading thereon evenly to the adjacent bone tissue to prevent high stress concentrations occurring in the adjacent bone tissue and concomitantly marginal bone tissue resorption. If marginal bone tissue resorption occurs this will reduce the anchorage of the implant and may undermine the long-term stability of the implant resulting in due course in failure of the prosthesis. In the particular case of dental prostheses, the aesthetic appeal is also undermined by marginal bone tissue resorption, an important drawback since dental prosthetics forms part of the field of cosmetic surgery.
The present invention proposes to provide an implant of the type defined having features which promote its maintenance in a bone tissue structure whilst at the same time facilitating its insertion into the bone tissue structure in the first place.